MENDOCINO CO., 6/07/17 — If you haven’t noticed, festival season and tourist season is upon us, and that means increased traffic on the roads — particularly on the weekends. This weekend, two annual events are taking place in the northern Mendo/southern Humboldt area that are likely to mean a lot of travelers heading our way, as well as locals who want to join in on the fun hitting the highways. Aside from traffic, that can also mean visitors unfamiliar with our windy roads and festival goers who maybe shouldn’t be driving will be out in force. And the Garberville California Highway Patrol office would like to make sure you and everyone else is safe, so they’ll be putting additional officers on the roads.
If you’re looking for some fun, both the Enchanted Forest Festival, at Black Oak Ranch north of Laytonville, and the Redwood Run, which takes in Piercy, will be happening this weekend. Both events feature live music, camping, activities/workshops, games, and much more, and visitors will start arriving Thursday evening and stay through Sunday. The Enchanted Forest Festival, in its seventh year, describes itself the “premiere music, art, movement and conscious living festival” in Northern California; the Redwood Run’s motto is “a true old school biker rally,” so there will be a lot of different kinds of fun-loving people on the roads. Whether you’re going to the festivals or not: please watch for motorcycles, buckle up, don’t speed, designate a sober driver, and be careful driving out there!
Here’s the message from CHP’s Garberville office Commander Randy England:
Garberville Area California Highway Patrol (CHP) Commander Randy England would like to take the time and remind everyone in the community, with the warming of the weather and summer time here, there is a large increase in the amount of vehicle traffic and special events in our community’s.
This Thursday, June 8th , is the kickoff of the Redwood Run in the Piercy area and June 9th is the Enchanted Forest festival in Laytonville. It is the California Highway Patrol’s primary mission to prevent the loss of life and injury to all motorists. That mission parallels the Strategic Highway Safety plan, a roadmap for improving safety on state’s roadways that all state traffic safety organizations follow. One element of the plan is to improve motorcycle safety.
Our goal is to encourage the motoring public to be vigilant in observing motorcyclists and encourage all riders to wear the proper safety equipment. Creating a safer highway environment is the shared responsibility of the drivers and the motorcyclists alike. This is achieved by staying alert using common sense and courtesy while on the road.
The CHP will be deploying additional CHP units to monitor traffic and ensure drivers are driving safe. Those units will be concentrating their enforcement on impaired drivers, distracted drivers and all primary collision factors in an effort to keep the entire motoring public safe.
The CHP would like to remind all motorists the best way assure their own safety and the safety of others is:
– Buckle up, driver and all occupants, every time and every trip.
– Observe all speed limits.
– Never use alcohol and or drugs while driving. Choose a designated driver or be one for your passengers.
– If you are making a long drive, get plenty of rest the night before, leave early, make frequent rest stops to stay alert, and do not let delays change your driving behavior.
We here at the Garberville CHP are hopeful the enhanced enforcement efforts directed towards ensuring the safety of the motoring public, will reduce the number of collisions and allow everyone to be safe and enjoy a summer filled with pleasant memories.